I
have been doing yoga since I was about thirteen years old. At the time,
my sole focus in life was ballet; the second was to be as fit as
possible. I took it to an obsessive level. I did Pilates all over the
house, when I woke up, before I lay down to sleep at night. The “500”
was my go-to when watching a movie. I was constantly moving, always
looking to burn five more calories. I was not naturally thin, and I had
to compete with my 80 lb friends at the studio for parts.
At
some point, my mom brought home a tape (yes, VHS), enclosed in a cover
that pictured a pretty blond wearing a turquoise sports bra and matching
leggings, eyes closed, in and handstand backbend. She was placed in some kind of
tropical location. “Yoga: Vinyasa Flow” showed bright blue above the
picture of the girl. I saw the picture, and I wanted to be her. I wanted
that beach, her hair, her peaceful aura.
I
pushed the tape into the VHS player, and the next 30 minutes
were…difficult. As a dancer/Pilates nut I wasn’t used to holding a
position for longer than ten seconds. My arms burned. My legs burned. My
patience suffered. Rainbeau Mars had the softest voice; she told me to
let go, to relax, to breathe, to think about what was happening inside
my body as I lengthened and stretched and poured sweat.
After
the 30 minutes were over, I laid in corpse pose for the first time and a
warm tingling sensation flowed over my whole body. My muscles were
limp, my neck softly sunk into the ground, my feet naturally flopped in
some variation of first position. Rainbeau told me to thank God. I said a
short prayer, thanking the Trinity for giving me my body and my breath.
And my life was changed.
I
would describe a good yoga experience as a good massage, combined with
an intense workout, coupled with mindful peace and forced rest. The
combination is, to say, 100% blissful. You leave the mat feeling
energized, relaxed, alert, and at peace. Because I am a Christian, I
also leave the mat with a sense of spiritual renewal as I have learned
how to focus on God and pray through my practice. For me, there is
nearly nothing like it.
Needless
to say, because I love doing yoga so much I naturally gravitate toward
teaching it. I have looked into countless teacher training programs (and
there are countless programs in Southern California), but never felt
like I foudn “the program” for me, until I stumbled upon Purple Yoga in
Fullerton about 4 years ago. It had previously been a Bikram Yoga
studio, which I liked, but when I took my first Purple Yoga class it was
like a light bulb went off in my head. Hot-Power-Vinyasa yoga, in a
beautiful studio and the best instructor I had ever come in contact
with?
I
later found out that they had a teacher training program, and I
immediately wanted to do it. At the time, I couldn’t because of college
and then getting engaged and then getting married and being poor (lol).
Now,
however, I feel pretty ready to take the plunge and become a certified
instructor. Because the full program is two months of jam-packed
sessions and studying, I decided to take a “mini” teacher training
intensive this weekend to see if it’s “for me”.
I
begin On Friday. The intensive will be led by Travis Eliot, creator of
The Ultimate Yoga series. He’s becoming a bit famous in the yoga world
so I am beyond excited to be studying with a renowned teacher. The
weekend includes seminars on vinyasa, nutrition, wellness, yoga
sequencing, relaxation, and MORE. I seriously can’t wait. 30 hours of
YOGA!? Yay.
Katie Levans is a full-time 
